Catching the rainbow

by keam

Rating: everyone
Tags: Pinkie Pie, Slice of Life, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Rainbow Dash
Length: 2612

Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie. Loyalty and laughter. Two ponies painted in two different coloures, that no one would try to combined.Yet they have somehow ended up combinded. Rainbow Dash know the story, and one night she decide to share it with Pinkie

Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie. Loyalty and laughter. Two ponies painted in two different coloures, that no one would ever try to combined. Yet they have somehow ended up combinded. Rainbow Dash know how it came to be, that they were combinded. Pinkie don't. One night when Pinkie question thier friendship, Rainbow Dash decide to share the story.

Written for the EFNW pre-con writing contest 2015
Cover art not by me. If anyone knows who the artist is please contact me!

Published 2015-03-16 13:20:02 UTC
Last updated 2015-03-16 13:20:02 UTC

Prolouge: A late night discussion...

"Hey, Rainbow Dash?"

"Yes Pinkie?"

"How come you and I are friends? You always say I'm annoying, yet you've never left me. Not even once."

"That's what it means to be the element of loyalty. But okay, I'll tell you a story, and maybe it'll give you your answer, maybe not. Anyhow, you must promise to listen."

"I always listen!"

"Haha, if only that was true"

"It is true, I promise!"

"Not a Pinkie promise, I hope, for your own sake."

"Fiiine, but get started with the story now!"

"Okay, okay. Here we go..."

Author's Note

Thanks to Wacuire and scootaloo96 for prereading/editing this story! :twilightsmile:

Chapter 1: When a rainbow crossed the sky...

This story started long ago, in the bewigged city of the pegasus, Cloudsdale. Here, a young filly was participating in a stupid little race against a couple of mean colts from the summer camp she was attending. It really wasn't anything serious, but as you very well know, when you’re a foal everything is serious, and for this little filly it was no different.

The explanation of how the filly ended up participating in this race is simple:
This little filly had put her honour on stake to protect her friend, and had then been challenged to do the race.

The little pegasus filly soared through the sky. Seeing the cloud marking the last part of the race approaching, the filly pushed herself to increase her speed once more, increasing the distance between her and her rivals, hoping for it was enough for her to win the race.

Seconds later, she passed through the cloud ring and went straight upwards, up into the beautiful turquoise sky that she loved oh so much. After a few seconds, she could feel the air pressure building up around her body and the tears flying out of her eyes.

Soon, the pressure around the small filly's body was so heavy, it made every muscle ache in such a way, that the little filly wondered how much longer it would take before it broke every bone in her body.

The pain was so intense on the little filly that she even started to consider trying to abort the stunt, just to get away from the pain despite knowing that it was extremely dangerous.

The thought had just enough time to plant itself in the filly's mind when it happened.

*BOOM*

Suddenly all the pressure around the little filly’s body disappeared, swept away by an enormous, rainbow colored explosion which spread out in a wide circle behind her. A rainbow unfolded behind the foal as she continued forward at top speed, pushed by the sheer power of the explosion. The filly continued on, flying further away from home than she'd ever been before. After a short while, she realized that she was actually enjoying the flight.

As she watched, the green, grass covered fields and occasional hill beneath her were replaced with a muddy, gray landscape, littered with rocks, all with varying shapes and sizes .

The little filly had never seen anything like it, but she had heard that, not far outside Ponyville, a little family worked doing something called ‘rock farming’, what ever that was. As she passed by one of the fields, she saw something pink in the middle of all the various shades of grey covering everything in the area.

If the filly could have, she would have stopped dead in her tracks, flying down to ground level and checking out the pink dot - which, in fact, was another filly, whose life undoubtedly had been changed by the rainbow explosion the other filly caused.

But the pegasus filly couldn’t stop, at least not without killing her self in the process, and therefore the filly continued on, all the way to the beautiful city of Manehattan. Without even meaning it,the little filly had crossed half of Equestria in less than a day.

Since it was summer and warm, the filly simply decided to sleep in the park before flying back home to Cloudsdale the next day.

The next day, as the filly was flying home, she once more flew over the rock covered fields, but at a much slower speed.

Now, she could see the fences marking the different fields, knowing for sure that it must be the so-called rock farm that she had heard of. Yes, there was no other explanation for the fenced fields holding nothing but rocks.

As the filly examined the grey landscape passing by beneath her, she was reminded of the pink dot she had seen out in the fields. What she would do next was never intentional, no, something in her mind forced her body to stop dead in its tracks and land on the hard, dusty ground, wincing slightly as the earth was filled with -surprise, surprise- rocks.

She looked around her, and noticed that only a few meters away was a big, metal construction that the filly didn’t even knew the name of. It was a formed like a cylinder and the roof was gone.

The sound of loud party music and ponies laughing seeped out through a crack in the door . Despite knowing she could get in trouble if they noticed her, the filly walked over to the building and peeked inside.

Inside, a grand party was under way. The participants were four fillies, a mare and a stallion, obviously a family, and most likely the owners of the farm. All of the members of the family had dull, uninteresting appearances and colours, all but one...the filly at the door almost made her presence now, managing to suppress a scream of surprise before it had time to slip out of her mouth.

In the middle of the building was a pink filly with curly, dark pink hair and a pair of big, shining blue eyes. She was bouncing up and down in excitement and her colours were almost ridiculously outstanding compared to her parents and siblings dull palette and the dusty, unappealing background.

Seeing the pink filly bouncing around, dancing and laughing along with her family, woke something in the other filly's heart. She felt that the rainbow - her rainbow, had created all this happiness, and most of all, the filly. She knew the rainbow had been special, and this was a proof of that.

Happy with what she had seen, the pegasus filly spread her wings, taking off into the skies and quickly leaving the grey, depressing landscape behind her and continuing back to her own home, Cloudsdale, the city in the skies.

Author's Note

Please leave a comment telling me why you liked/didn't like this story, thank you!:pinkiesmile:

Musical inspiration:

Interlude: The loyal laughter

"Pinkie...are you crying?"

"That was a beautiful story, Dashie...but I still do not understand why we are friends."

"It's not over yet. I still got some more to tell."

"Okay, but can I ask a question? Was all of it true? Were you really watching me during my first party?"

"Yes Pinkie, all of it is true. Can we continue now?"

"Yes.. Go ahead Dashie."

"Good. But to continue our story, we need to go several years forward in time, to when I first moved to Ponyville"

Chapter 2: When the rainbow met it's creation

Several years have past since the happening of the sonic rainboom, and the little filly had grown up to be a beautiful young mare. This mare had just been given her first job at the local weather team in the small village of Ponyville. She was just going to get a look around town when it appeared.

“WELCOME TO PONYVILLE!”

The young pegasus mare didn’t even have time to understand what was happening, as she was tackled to the ground by what felt like a bullet, but in reality was an overly excited mare.

Looking up, she was met by a pink mare with intense blue eyes sticking her muzzle in her face. The pink mares breath had a faint smell of cupcakes and frosting, and somehow, the pegasus mare thought of all laughter she evrr heard,all at once...

“What the flying feather do you think you're doing? Get off of me!” the mare on the ground screamed, trying to get out of the other mares grip.

Noticing the other mares struggling to free herself, the pink mare moved away from her, smiling sheepishly.

“Oopsie. Sorry for that. I’m your new best friend Pinkie pie!” the mare exclaimed, smiling.

“Wait, you just decided we’re best friends? But I just met you...and frankly, I don’t normally hang out with ponies who tackle other ponies and make them their best friends without even asking!”

Upon hearing this, Pinkie Pie, deflated like a helium balloon being punctured. Her pink mane, which had been the curliest mane the other mare had ever seen, became the straightest mane she had ever seen, and the hole color palette of the pink mare seemed to become dull and uninteresting.

The young pegasus mare could immediately, despite not realizing why, feel that something was horribly wrong. It was like not only the pink mare, but everything and everypony seemed to have become gloomier as well.

“I get it...all I wanted was to make you happy, but maybe you don't care about your own nor others happiness...and now I’ll have to cancel your ‘Welcome to Ponyville’ party!” the pink mare whispered sadly, turning her back to the pegasus mare and starting to walk away.

As the pegasus mare watched the pink mare walked away, the desperate feeling that everything was wrong, oh so wrong, was unbearable for the young mare.

“Wait! I-I’m sorry...I will come to the party...it sounds fun.” The mare exclaimed, just to make the feeling go away. The feeling of that she had somehow let down destiny itself.

The pink mare looked up, and the other mare watched as she bounced high into air, her mane going back to being a big curly mess and her features lightning up, the light from her spreading to everything and everypony around her until the whole world around them appeared brighter than before.

“YAY! LET’S GO NOW!” the mare exclaimed, running off into the distance, while the other mare did her best to follow her.

Finally, the pegasus mare ended up inside a big bakery, which operated inside a house designed to look like a gingerbread house with a cupcake-shaped tower on top.

Inside, one of the biggest parties the mare had ever seen was going on, and it was all dedicated to her.

Seeing the Pinkie Pie laugh and dance with ponies the pegasus mare had never seen before, she remembered. She realized why seeing the mare sad had caused her such pain…

Because she had created the eternal happiness this mare possesed to begin with. It was her rainbow explosion, the stunt that made her so famous, that had created this mare as she saw her: Happy, innocent and somehow made of laughter.

She knew what her mission was, and would be. She was going to protect this mare, protect her happiness. Forever.

Author's Note

Musical inspiration:
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?params=OAFIAVgC&list=PLceH6Lw9Y_qUgNoU1Wt31KDWU5ywZOAQu&v=52cuuWHNWIU&mode=NORMAL]

Interlude: The first laughter of the loyalty

“I remember every party I’ve ever thrown...but that one was special, Dashie. Special. You were the first pony I’ve organized a party for that enjoyed watching me have a great time more than having a great time yourself!”

“And now you know why. Because everytime I see you laugh and smile along with other ponies, it’s like when I saw you at that party all over again. It makes me happy.”

"All I ever wanted was to make you happy."

"And you do, Pinkie. You really do."

“I know. But the story isn’t over, is it Dashie? There's something more you want to tell me about, isn't there?”

“Yes, Pinkie, there is more. Do you remember the cutiemark switching accident? When you got Aj’s cutiemark?”

"Yes...?"

Chapter 3: Something wrong turned right

Everything, absolutly everything had gone wrong that day. They’d woken up with another cutiemark, another talent, and everything felt so wrong. yet they couldn’t remember when it felt right, couldn’t remember what was wrong.

But for the young mare whose story we’ve been following, things had started to turn around, started to be right again. But there was still one thing left…

She looked out over the empty fields, at the few dead crops still standing in the dried-up ground.

She looked at her friend, the honest, hardworking farmer. She looked so confused, didn’t understand why she were here, why it felt so wrong inside.

But it was not her friends lost, empty facial expression that tore the young mare's heart apart. It was their other friend, just as lost and empty, slaving away on the orchard to no use.

She had promised herself to protect that friend with all she had, because without that silly goofball, she’d have everything yet nothing. Nopony and nothing would be worth smiling for any more.

The pegasus mare helped the pink mare, and showed the farmer, who really should be working out here in the orchards, what to do.

She watched as her friend rediscovered herself, until she glowed with a bright orange light from within, representing her essence, what had been locked away when she got the wrong cutiemark and the wrong destiny.

She saw her friend get a necklace put around her neck, and her eyes widen as it all came back to her, as her essence was unlocked, and her wrongly placed cutiemark replaced.

She watched her now once more normal apple farmer friend take her beloved creation upon her back. The three misplaced red apples fitting all too well against her pink coat. But they weren't supposed to. It was wrong...so wrong.

She watched the apple farmer carry her confused friend , and seeing them come closer and closer to Ponyville made her think.

When she first came to this town, it became her duty to make sure her friend was happy and satisfied, because she knew, that this mare, whether she knew it or not, carried all the smiles in the nation inside her…

But there was more than that. There was always more. Much like how Gepetto cared for Pinocchio, the pegasus mare wanted everything to be perfect for her little creation. Never would she have to feel sadness or loss, never be judged upon. The Pegasus mare wouldn't allow that.

Because she planted the rainbow inside this mare, forming her destiny and her mark. And what you cause, you need to take responsibility for, that's what her parents always told her.

The fact was, she had caused all of this. Everyone of her six friends, their destinies, their lives and their marks had been caused by her rainbow, by her destiny. Through being loyal, through never leaving their side, she took responsibility.

The mare loved and cared for all her friends, but none more so than the pink one. She had seen the rainbow in her eyes, and it had formed her.

Author's Note

Musical inspiration:
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PLceH6Lw9Y_qUgNoU1Wt31KDWU5ywZOAQu&v=7jiJYRJD4Lc&params=OAFIAVgD&mode=NORMAL]

Epilouge: When the laughter found it's roots

"..."

"Pinkie?"

"Promise you'll never leave me, Dashie. Promise that you'll never leave us!"

"I promise, Pinkie."

"Pinkie promise?"

"Pinkie promise. There is nothing I'd rather do than stay."

"Stay with me, and with us. We love you Dashie. We really do."

"I know Pinkie. I know..."

Author's Note

Thank you for reading this story, and I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did!:twilightsmile: